Afghanistan: Hamzai's chief of staff 'took money from Iran'

President's confidant accused of accepting large sums from Tehran to finance opposition to the west

Description: Afghan President Ahmed Karzai holds up a rug depicting the flag of the USA and Afghanistan at The Kabul International Conference 2010 in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Afghanistan. 20 July 2010.(Photo : by Jack Hill)
The Afghan president’s closest aide and confidant has been taking cash
payments from the Iranian government, it was reported on Sunday.

It is claimed Tehran is attempting to influence Hamid Karzai’s regime and
weaken its ties to Britain and America by paying “bagfuls of money” to his
inner circle.

Umar Daudzai, Karzai’s chief of staff, has received millions to “advance
Iranian interests” in the war-torn country, according to The New York Times.

Daudzai has denied the allegations, while a spokesman for Feda Hussein Maliki,
Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, dismissed them as “devilish gossip by the
west and foreign media”.

It is alleged Maliki handed Daudzai a large plastic bag bulging with packets
of euros while the two were taking a flight last August.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, is also said to have made a
payment during a visit to the presidential palace in Kabul earlier this year.